At Eight, I Paid Off My Birth Debt

Chapter 4 Make My Mom Smile

Then everything changed.

All at once, my body felt strangely light.

I looked up and saw several men in orange safety vests scrambling toward the spot where I had been standing.

More people came running from every direction until they formed a tight circle around the dented patch of ground.

"She got hit in the head!"

"Call an ambulance! The kid's not gonna make it!"

"Oh my God, there's blood everywhere!"

"She's so little..."

They were all crowding around my body as I lay facedown on the ground. One person took off his jacket and covered me. Another was already on the phone.

Everyone was shouting over each other.

Mom had always told me not to stand around gawking when something bad happened.

Places like that were dangerous. And wasting time was the same as wasting money.

I needed to go home. Grandma would be worried.

The thought had barely crossed my mind when everything in front of me blurred for a second, and suddenly I was back at the house.

Grandma was pacing through the living room like she had lost her mind.

"Where is Natalie? She said she'd stay home and read. Where did that child go?"

I rushed toward her and shouted, "Grandma! I'm right here!"

But she acted like she could not hear me at all. She could not see me either.

Grandma started crying and called my mother. "Chloe! Natalie's missing! I came back, and she wasn't here!"

My mother's voice came through the phone, sounding exhausted and impatient.

"Mom, stop panicking. Where could she possibly have gone? She probably ran off to collect cans and bottles again. I'm working. If I leave now, I lose my attendance bonus for the month, and I was this close..."

Grandma said sharply, "Chloe, your daughter is missing! Do you really care more about that bonus than your own child?"

"Fine. Fine. I'm coming back!"

My mother hung up, sounding annoyed.

I started pacing frantically through the living room.

"Mom, don't leave work! Don't lose your money! I'm right here! I'm not gone! I'll come back in a minute!"

When my mother got home, her brows were drawn tight.

"You checked everywhere nearby? You called her classmates' houses?"

Grandma was crying so hard she could barely get the words out. "I asked everyone! Nobody's seen her! I was only gone long enough to buy groceries."

For the first time, my mother did not bring up the money again, but her face went even tighter.

She tossed off her coat and headed right back out.

I hurried after her.

I watched her knock on one neighbor's door after another, and each time she thanked someone and moved on, her voice sounded thinner and rougher than before.

"Where could she even be? Even if she went looking for cans and bottles, she should've been home by now..."

She said it under her breath, almost like she was trying to convince herself.

I hovered at her side and said urgently, "Mom, I didn't go out collecting cans and bottles this afternoon. I went somewhere else. I..."

I looked at her face and saw the fear growing there. Then guilt hit me too.

I should never have stopped to peek into that construction site. I should never have made her worry like this.

My mother ran back to the house, breathing hard.

"Mom, I checked the front and back of the building. Nobody saw her. I went to all the places where she usually collects cans and bottles. She's not there either. She gets harder to deal with every day! When she gets back, I'm going to sit her down and settle this once and for all!"

I flinched on instinct.

'But Mom, I made money today! Thirty dollars!'

I reached for the money in my pocket.

Grandma slowly lifted her head. Her face was streaked with tears.

Then she held out a crumpled note she had been clutching in her hand. My mother was stunned for a moment, her gaze falling on the note.

"Grandma, I'm going out for a little while. I'll be back soon. I'm going to make money. If I make money, Mom can dance again."

My mother had not even finished reading the note when her phone rang. It was the police.

"Ms. Lindsey... There's been an accident at a construction site. We have reason to believe we've identified the victim... We believe the victim is your daughter, Natalie."